Red beans and rice is often a side dish in the south, but it makes a perfectly good “soup” or meal. I make mine in a pressure cooker, but you can also make them in a crockpot. I also use a summer sausage in mine rather than the more tradional ham bone or salt pork.

In pressure cooker:
16 oz red beans sorted, washed and soaked for 2 hours (some restaurants use kidney beans or a combination of beans. I like the small red beans.)
1 large sweet onion, diced
2 large stalks of celery, diced
5 baby carrots, diced
2 jalapenos, diced (with seeds for more heat)
6 oz chopped summer sausage
1 tablespoon crushed thyme leaves
1 tsp sage
2 bay leaves
1 tsp minced fresh parsely

Cook under pressure for 1 hour. After cooling, taste. Sprinkle additional thyme, salt and pepper if needed. Remove bay leaves and serve over white rice or a combination of wild rice mixed with white rice.

If you are cooking in a crockpot, cooking time will be 6 to 8 hours. I would advise searing the sausage, onions and celery in a skillet before adding to the crockpot. Make sure to add the grease from the sausage as this is important in flavoring the beans.